made her cryptic statement about someone bringing about her death.
“Angel and Molly have been friends since they was kids,” he said. “Angel had been dating Johnny pretty serious when he died. Her and Johnny was going to get married but was waiting on Molly to get out. Guess maybe you shouldn’t wait on important things, right? Might not get another chance.”
“That’s really sad,” Gertie said. “For everyone.”
Nickel nodded. “And now Angel has to have another funeral with an empty casket. Seems like a lot for one person.”
“What about Molly’s parents?” Ida Belle asked.
“Her mom split when the kids was little,” Nickel said. “They never mentioned her and if someone asked, they didn’t really answer. I figured it was old wounds and I never got into it. Their dad is still alive, far as I know. I always got the impression he’s a mean old cuss although ain’t no one ever come right out and said so. It was more about what they didn’t say, you know? He lives somewhere outside of NOLA. I only ever saw him once and that was at Johnny’s funeral. Didn’t shed so much as a tear and that ain’t right. A real man shouldn’t have no problem crying over the death of his only son.”
“No. He shouldn’t,” Gertie said and patted Nickel’s arm.
“Do you happen to know anything about Molly’s will?” I asked.
Nickel shook his head. “Can’t see Molly discussing that with someone like me. Whiskey maybe. He’s got the head for business but they weren’t on that kind of speaking terms. Why?”
“Because her crazy boyfriend showed up at Ally’s house today threatening her,” I said. “He’s under the impression that Molly left Ally her catering business and apparently, he thought it should be coming to him.”
Nickel’s eyes widened. “Was Ally hurt?”
“No,” I said. “He scared her more than anything. Carter locked him up but you know that won’t stick for long.”
Nickel scratched his head. “Molly’s said before as how she thought Ally was the most talented baker she’d ever come across, which ain’t no secret around here. And I know Molly’s catering business was real important to her. I suppose if she was gonna do up everything legal and all, it would make sense she’d want it going to someone who could do it justice.”
“You said Dexter was hitting on women at the Swamp Bar,” I said, “but that you didn’t think anyone had told Molly because they’d be afraid to. Did that include you?”
Nickel sighed. “I guess I kinda hedged on that one earlier. Yeah, I told her. I figured she’d go crazy on him but the next week, I stopped by her house with a bottle of specialty whiskey she’d asked us to get for her and that loser was still there. I didn’t bother saying anything after that. Molly knew I wouldn’t lie. Not to her, anyway. So if she decided it wasn’t a problem, wasn’t nothing I could do about it.”
“Will Angel be willing to talk to us?” I asked. Maybe Molly’s best friend could shed some light on things that Nickel couldn’t.
“’Course!” Nickel said. “I talked to her about you before I came over here and she was all for it. Does that mean you’ll do it? You’ll figure out who killed Molly?”
“I’ll certainly try,” I said. “But you know I can’t promise anything, just like you can’t promise how many beers you’ll sell on Saturday night down at the bar.”
Nickel shook his head. “You’ll do it. Whiskey says you’re smart as hel—heck. And Whiskey don’t go around bragging on people.”
“You said you didn’t want Whiskey to know about this,” I said. “Why not?”
Nickel shrugged. “I figured he wouldn’t want me messed up in something like this, especially with police circling around. I’m trying to keep my nose clean and butting in on something like this isn’t smart for a guy in my position. If the cops knew I was friends with Molly, they might make something of it.”
“Where were you when Molly went missing?” I asked.
“Right where you guys found me when you was looking for her,” he said. “I didn’t know she was gone until you guys showed up and even then, I didn’t think nothing about it. Figured Molly had got hot over something and went for a ride to cool off. I never figured…”
He stopped for a minute to cough, then took a swig of beer and I could tell he was trying to maintain his tough-guy persona. “Anyway, you see how I wouldn’t want